Chapter 5 — Part I — Article III (Of the Incarnation)
Section 192. Q. What tokens had God's providence prepared, that men might know the Saviour, when he was born to them? A. Many exact predictions of various circumstances of his birth and life on earth. For instance, the Prophet Isaiah foretold that the Saviour should be born of a virgin. Isaiah vii. 14. The Prophet Micah foretold that the Saviour should be born in Bethlehem; and this prophecy the Jews understood even before they heard of its fulfillment. Matt. ii. 4-6. The Prophet Malachi, after the building of the second temple at Jerusalem, foretold that the coming of the Saviour was drawing nigh, that he should come to this temple, and that before him should be sent a forerunner like unto the Prophet Elias, clearly pointing by this to John the Baptist. Mal. iii. 1; iv. 5. The Prophet Zachariah foretold the triumphal entry of the Saviour into Jerusalem. Zach. ix. 9. The Prophet Isaiah, with wonderful clearness, foretold the sufferings of the Saviour. Isaiah liii. David, in the twenty-second Psalm, described the sufferings of the Saviour on the cross with as great exactness as if he had written at the foot of the cross itself. And Daniel, 490 years before, foretold the appearance of the Saviour, his death on the cross, and the subsequent destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem, and abolition of the Old Testament sacrifices. Dan. ix.